The Special Genin Training ground, in Training Area #26, is designed to suit all of a Genin's training needs. As well, it serves as an excellent place for Jounin to teach their Genin team members. The area is mostly a large expanse of grassy field, surrounded by forest, with a nearby lake, and various poles and tree trunks for practicing attacks on. There are boxes, carefully camoflauged, containing supplies of shuriken, kunai, smoke bombs, and similar basic ninja equipment, as well as racks nailed to a few trees, with weapons stored on them. They are all covered to be protected from the environment, and regularly checked to make sure they are clean and in good condition.
There are also medical supplies hidden around the area. Most of this equipment can't even be found by most Genin, since their containers are meant to be known to and used by Jounin only, but a Jounin teacher may point out the location of a few for when he or she isn't present and the Genin want to train anyway.

Mid afternoon in the genin training area of Konohagakure's Toshiba Forest. The sun was out, partially hidden by big fluffy clouds that slowly make their way across the sky. Summer in the Land of Fire was hot, though a cool breeze blowing through the trees provided relief from its heated glare. Sitting in the shade of one of the larger trees was a young Uchiha teenager, carefully observing the goings on of the others around him. Kenji had done some pretty serious training since his first bout with Isura and now he had come to the point where he was out of ideas for his training. What better way to come up with ideas than to watch others and, perhaps, find a new friend or sparring partner.

Recent events have caused Shinobu to hide in her shell even more so than before. And yet, she still has the small number of friends she trusts. Her caretaker, Inuzuka Soren, Hyuuga Yuuki, and Inuzuka Hige. The girl is at the entrance of the training ground, a black labrador puppy held in her arms as the pair search for one of the aforementioned people in the training yard. None of them were genin, actually but the Chuunin yard was even more intimidating to Shinobu that the genin yard, so she stayed here. Eyes from a certain Uchiha in a tree are detected by Kame, the pup in Shinobu's arms, and the lab gives a small yip to draw the girl's attention to the trees, and perhaps to draw Kenji's attention.

The yip from the black lab breaks Kenji's concentration and pulls his attention towards Shinobu and her dog. A new face, for sure, and one that seemed to be surrounded in caution. With nothing else to really catch his interest, Kenji hops down from his perch, dusting himself off as he makes his way over to the girl and her dog, a friendly look on his face. "Hello." he says with a slow nod of his head as he approaches, crouching down and holding out his hand in case the pup wanted to sniff and perhaps get some friendly pats.

Shinobu peers warily at Kenji, not sure if she trusts him. He seems nice, but sometimes, especially from her experience, the nice faces hide those who are truly evil. Kame, generally trusting of most people, yips a cheerful greeting, sniffing curiously at the Uchiha and giving his hand a small lick. ~This one seems okay, Shinobu-chan!~ she would bark in the Inuzuka language. The girl nods softly, hand lifting to wave quietly to Kenji. No words escape her mouth quite yet.

Kenji smiles warmly as the pup licks his hand, reaching out to give her some light pats and scritches behind the ears. "You are a friendly one, aren't you." he says to the pup before standing back up, his attention on Shinobu. "I'm Uchiha Kenji. I don't believe I've seen you around the training areas." he says to the young girl. "I imagine you either love dogs very much, or you are one of the Inuzuka clan members. Am I right?" After asking the girl he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck as he gets a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry to pry, force of habit. My dad is a detective in the Uchiha Police Corps. and I've kind of inherited his bad habits."

Shinobu nods quietly, still not speaking, when Kenji says she is probably of the Inuzuka clan. Kame seems pretty happy with getting pets, tail wagging. The pup barks a few more times, saying, ~Give him your name. It's polite, silly!~ Kenji might not be able to tell what is being said, but perhaps the expression on Shinobu's face would direct him to a conclusion of sorts. It was one of unhappiness, the girl not really wanting to talk. "Umm… Inuzuka… Shinobu…" she introduces herself.

Kenji senses the hesitation, though he does get a name. "Nice to meet you, Inuzuka Shinobu. What brings you out here today? Looking to train? spar?" he asks as he turns his attention towards the area in question, the training field. He figures he will take it slow, one question at a time with the shy girl, waiting for answers in her own pace.

Shinobu bites her lip, wondering how to answer. Looking for someone… Was really not that great of an answer. She hesitates a bit more, trying to come up with an answer. "… Train…" she finally says. Kame blinks and looks up at her partner. Just what were they going to train? Hadn't Shinobu already suffered enough through that activity?

"Training, huh." Kenji says as he looks over the field, nodding his head. "That is what I came to do. I was actually checking out some training techniques and regimes done by the other genin around to get ideas, as I have completely run out of ideas as to what I can do to get better. I figured I had already ticked off all the basics: Meditation, training dummies, kunai and shuriken practice, even worked on my fire techniques somewhat. I don't know what I should do next. I was kind of hoping someone was around to spar, but looks like today won't be one of those days, you know?"

"Umm…" Shinobu doesn't know that she'll be much of a match, but… The girl points to herself, as if to offer to spar Kenji. Kame grumbles a bit, but it was also a good thing that her partner was willing. And spars usually don't go that far, so it probably won't be like the last fight the pair was in. "… spar… me…?" she offers, in case Kenji didn't understand the gestures. Or then intent behind them, rather.

Kenji looks back, a bit of surprise in his face at the offer as the girl seemed so shy and uncomfortable. Perhaps he had mischaracterized her, and he was glad that he did. "Sure. I mean we both came to train, so who better to train against than a moving target, right?" he says with a chuckle, keeping things light and friendly. He slides his hands into his pants pockets and moves a few steps before turning to look back at Shinobu. "Lets go over to one of the open grassy areas and prepare." he suggests.

Shinobu nods softly, trailing after Kenji when he points out one of the grassy areas. The one that she tried to nudge him towards was off to the side, away from most of the other genin that were training. Kame ends up hopping out of Shinobu's arms, giving herself a shake as she gets the feeling back in her legs and prepares. Yip! ~Ready when you two are!~ she says, tail wagging behind her as she looks to the two behind her.

Kenji moves with Shinobu to an out-of-the-way grassy area to use as their sparring arena. He turns to watch Shinobu's pup hop down and get prepared for the spar, chuckling at her eagerness, and perhaps a bit at the drastic difference in personalities between the partners. He moulds some chakra in preparation, doing some leg and arm stretches to get out the kinks of sitting up in the tree for awhile. Once he feels ready enough, he crouches a bit nods his head to Shinobu. "Ready whenever you are." he says, giving her the first go.

Shinobu waits for a bit longer, but it seems that Kenji is allowing her to attack first. She frowns a bit, wondering if that's a good idea… She wasn't that good at attacking /or/ defending, really, so she might as well give it her best. Kame is too eager to get the fight started, and the pup immediately charges at Kenji, aiming to tackle him to the ground so that Shinobu can follow up with a swift punch that… really lacks power behind it.

COMBAT: Kenji defends against DOG-TACKLE(20) attack from Shinobu with a REPLACEMENT-TECHNIQUE…17
COMBAT: Kenji loses the roll and sustains 0 damage.
COMBAT: Kenji defends against PHYSICAL(23) attack from Shinobu with a TENSE…16
COMBAT: Kenji loses the roll and sustains 134 damage.

Seeing the pup come towards him he just wants to open his arms and hug her as she jumps towards him to tackle him. Unfortunately this is battle for now and Kenji must do his best to focus, attempting to move out of the way of the tackle, unsuccessfully and, in turn, taking the quick punch. It may have lacked oomph but it was quick and impressive nonetheless. "Mmn, my turn I guess." he says as he gets up, forming a serpent hand seal before the grass around Shinobu and her pup would suddenly grow at an alarming rate and wrap itself around them, attempting to bind them. Meanwhile as she deals with that, Kenji moulds some fire chakra and sends out a small, compact ball of fire towards them, able to explode on touch with anything.

Shinobu squeaks when she finds herself unable to move, the girl struggling a bit, then realizing it was a rather fruitless attempt to escape. She allows herself to take the fire, letting it burn away the non-existent grass, sustaining a few burns, herself. Kame grumbles at the attack and gives a yip to check Shinobu is okay. On her confirmation, the pup would yip again, and Shinobu frowns, but nods. Her eye tracks Kenji down as she forms handseals uncertainly. If Kenji didn't quite escape, Kame's yips would transform into the howls of dogs in the far off distance, and their barks would slowly be coming closer as the pack aimed to chase after the boy. Even if he felt he could fight them off, he would just find himself running away.

COMBAT: Kenji defends against DOG-CHASE(14) attack from Shinobu with a GENJUTSU-PERCEPTION…17
COMBAT: Kenji defends against DOG-CHASE(24) attack from Shinobu with a GENJUTSU-KAI…33
COMBAT: Kenji defends against DOG-CHASE(14) attack from Shinobu with a GENJUTSU-PERCEPTION…22

Kenji begins to hear dogs barking all around him but it wasn't the barking that caught his eye, it was the feeling of sluggishness within his body, something similar to what Kyuketsuki does to him all the time. His eyes are able to pierce the illusion and a swift Kai is able to purge the chakra from his body, leaving him unscathed. So the girl had some genjutsu in her arsenal as well, this would be amusing for him. He forms a new set of seals, this time triggering a gust of wind that picks up the fallen leaves around her and blocks out her view for a brief moment. The world would seem normal and the mental 'hellish vision' she would see would be left completely up to her mind and whatever was on it. The brief illusion was only meant to distract while he set up his powerful one-two combination of fire techniques, first blowing out super heated air to incapacitate the duo before following it up with another fireball.

COMBAT: Shinobu defends against HELL-VIEWING-TECHNIQUE(21) attack from Kenji with a GENJUTSU-PERCEPTION…20
COMBAT: Shinobu loses the roll and sustains 0 damage.
COMBAT: Kenji drains stamina from Shinobu
COMBAT: Shinobu defends against SEAR(31) attack from Kenji with a INTUITIVE-DODGE…38
COMBAT: Shinobu defends against EXPLOSION(32) attack from Kenji with a INTUITIVE-DODGE…36

It was only meant to distract, but the scene that she saw before her was probably the worst she could have possibly seen. Of course, it's only been a few days from the last bout of panic, so this just intensifies everything. Fear is the only emotion one could detect from the girl as she stares at the illusion with her eye's mind. She was once more back in the compound, the sounds of the 'instructors' yelling orders to continue their training. To keep punching and kicking even though she was exhausted. Even though her whole body ached and her knuckles were bleeding.
The genjutsu forced Shinobu's fear at an all-time high, and breathing became shallow while the expression in her eye became distant. The single brown eye dulled as she started traveling back even deeper into her memories, and it was only because her body was able to react instinctively that she was able to avoid being burnt. Fire meant heat, and she ended up dropping to the ground to keep away from the flames while Kame simply dashed over to Shinobu to try and help the girl recover.
While Shinobu only had fear in her mind, Kame had rage. Kenji had used a move that made her partner take even more steps back in her progress. The pup growls at Kenji, trying to tackle the Uchiha. When she lands, she immediately springs into action again, the pup crouching and spinning to try and hurt Kenji as bad as he had 'hurt' her partner.

COMBAT: Kenji defends against DOG-TACKLE(14) attack from Shinobu with a REPLACEMENT-TECHNIQUE…29
COMBAT: Kenji defends against TSUGA(15) attack from Shinobu with a REPLACEMENT-TECHNIQUE…22

Kenji notices the panic, making him curious as to what the girl had seen inside her mind. Either way, he didn't plan on prying into it and knocked that technique from spars with Shinobu from now on. He watched, impressed, as Shinobu's body moves from the fire intuitively, dodging both attacks that he had set up. It seemed he would have to rely on his old faithful.
As the pup growls and charges forward, she would latch on to Kenji and have him fall to the ground, only to have him poof into a branch. The real Kenji was behind Shinobu and, with another serpent seal, chains would burst forth from the ground to bind Shinobu while the branch next to the pup would grow and try to bind her. Again, Kenji would release a flame, though this one was of a much larger size, the technique that all Uchiha learn before being considered 'of age' in their community.

COMBAT: Shinobu defends against BINDING-ILLUSION(18) attack from Kenji with a GENJUTSU-PERCEPTION…22
COMBAT: Shinobu defends against GREAT-FIREBALL-TECHNIQUE(29) attack from Kenji with a INTUITIVE-DODGE…31

Shinobu and Kame aren't so easily bound by genjutsu, especially once they get a feel for it. To them, the chains and moving tree exist, but never touch them as soon as they recognize it to be genjutsu. Thus, the binds have no hold, allowing Kame to freely move to avoid the fireball. Shinobu is close enough to the ground that the fire misses her, and Kame notices that her partner is still lost in the sea of fear that threatened to swallow her up. The pup, however much she wants to hurt Kenji, forces herself to stop and yips, ~You win. So help me take Shinobu-chan to the hospital.~ Hopefully Kenji's able to tell what's being said, as there isn't anyone around to translate the ninken.

Kenji is again impressed with the intuition shown by Shinobu though it seems like she was still reeling from the technique earlier. The pup moves over to Shinobu and looks back to Kenji, as if to 'bark' to help her out. Kenji can only assume that is what she means based on actions and body language, though if he was wrong it would backfire and he would get hit. Would be a lesson either way. Kenji moves over to Shinobu and her dog, crouching down to examine Shinobu on the ground. "Are you able to move." he says to the girl, waving a hand in front of her face. "We stopped the spar, everything you saw was just illusions, sorry for that."

COMBAT: Shinobu attacks target 1 with SHARP with a roll of: 23

Shinobu eventually ends up in a fetal position, the girl's breathing shallow and rapid as she continues to feel the illusion's effects long after it was finished. Kame is really not inclined to allow Kenji near the girl, giving a warning growl and biting at the incoming hand. Not actually biting, but she wants to send the message across to keep away for now. Yip! ~If you really wanna help, go find someone that Shinobu-chan knows!~ the pup huffs, glaring at the Uchiha.

"What do you want, I thought you called me over to help?" Kenji says to the pup as it tries to bite at his hand. He looks around the area for anyone that can help, though all he spots is a Jounin overseeing a few genin training. He turns back to the pup and Shinobu before saying "I'll be right back." He jogs over across the field, being careful not to get in anyone's way, towards the Jounin and explains what is going on. Like it or not, the pup will probably have to back down or give in when the Jounin comes over to take her to the hospital.

Kyuketsuki was enjoying a pleasant walk and had decided, 'hey! I haven't trained in quite a bit. I think I'll head down to the training area today. He was casually walking to the grounds until he eventually arrived on the scene, upon entering he looks around, spotting the group of genin, Kenji talking to a Jounin, and then he spots Shinobu curled up on the ground, he sighs and starts walking over to her, but not getting too close, he doesn't care much about the Jounin and he looks at Kame, for any signs of 'back off' that she may give, which is rather unlikely. He then speaks in a calm voice, "Shinobu? Are you okay? It's Kyu."

Kame looks like she'll probably try to chase off the Jounin as well, though Kyu comes over before he does. The pup lets Kyu through, knowing that Shinobu has the boy a bit higher than most on her list of people she knows and trusts. Shinobu wouldn't reply, something in her brain having shut down to remove the amount of fear that was coursing through the girl. It had helped, in a sense, as she was no longer breathing harshly. But it also meant that nothing would really respond as it should. Kame gives a worried yip, nudging Kyu a bit closer to Shinobu before pointing in the direction of the Inuzuka Village.

Kenji looks up from his concentration once he hears a familiar voice in Kyu. "Hey, you know Shinobu?" he asks, watching the pup let him through which basically answers his question. The Jounin hangs around to see if the girl needs medical attention at all, though Kyu seems to be able to at least calm her breathing. "She panicked after a genjutsu, fell down like this. Pup has been trying to tell me something but I don't speak canine. I'll leave it to you for now." he says with a pat on Kyu's shoulder before he thanks the Jounin for coming and heads to his tree.

Kyu responds to Kenji with a sigh and a nod, "I know her. And yeah. I have this under control, I'm a trained medic as well. I can handle it from here." He then goes towards Shinobu as a response to the nudging, and catches the gesture towards the Inuzuka village, and comes to the assumption that taking her home is what she means. He hesitantly crouches down and thinks for a moment, before speaking, "Shinobu? I'm going to carry you home okay?" He then carefully tries to pick her up, and would continue based off her reaction to his attempt.

Shinobu doesn't react to being carried, or really anything. She's simply there, a literal shell of what she was. Kame yips worriedly, hopping to try and snuggle up to her partner. A few licks to the girl's chin, but otherwise Kame will just try to drag Kyu towards the Inuzuka village.

Kyu would pick up Shinobu and allow the pup to lick her and anything else, and let the pup lead him towards the village, and as he does he has a thought, she doesn't look very injured, but she does look a tad charred. He pulses reflective chakra through the girl as he carries her and walks, noting the signals that come back and taking note of the slight damage from the heat of some sort of flame being pressed against her skin. He sighs a little, but not necessarily an upset sigh, more of a 'I'm glad she isn't hurt badly' sigh.

The entrance to the Inuzuka village is denoted by a small cherry blossom orchard that leads to the entrance of the front gates. Closely guarded by it's guards and nin-dog's that are on patrol, the village itself is a stronghold that can defend itself from all sides if needed. Further inside, you can see the residential area that are filled with children and puppies playing about the area making the formidable exterior fade into the background. Also noted in this area are the markings on the main houses about the area denoting what branch that family belongs to.

At the center of everything is the mansion-like structure of the Founder's Clan where meetings and the like are held and where the young Inuzuka's rite of passages are initiated. Further into the village the barracks can be seen as well as the dojo where they practice their clan techniques and also the storage house where they store extra food. There's also a merchant's square where they trade, produce and market goods for barter. Another thing to note is that every branch house seems to have a particular tree that grows only in it's surroundings that makes recognition more notable.

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Kyuketsuki was making his way to the Inuzuka village, being led by Kame. In his arms was Shinobu. Her clothes are only mildly burnt and one may mistake Kyu for being the culprit. If one were to examine her closely though, she has next to no noticable wounds due to them being so mild in the first place and Kyu using his Light Healing Jutsu to fix that right up. He is following where Kame leads him without question and is constantly looking down at her.

Shinobu is, as mentioned, being held in Kyu's arms when she comes into the village. The girl is not quite conscious, but not unconscious either. She is in an odd in-between, the mind unable to comprehend much more than the fact that the body is being carried. Kame has a worried expression and occasionally whines softly at her partner's current condition. Sometimes she'll sprint ahead to see if anyone, like Hige or Mana, are around to assist Kyu, but mostly she stays near the Uchiha.

Hige had just recently returned from Kumo and some side trip since it took so long for him to get back. Who knows! As it happens he walks out onto his porch with Konsho before stretching and looking around. He can't quite pick up the trio yet with his eyes but something on the wind worries him and the pair head out. They come upon Kyu and Shinobu and he blinks in surprise, running the rest of the distance. "What the call happened?" Is out of his mouth before he's even close.

Another medic-nin is also on hand, as Kenta is in Inuzuka village to do a check up on a sick old lady that couldn't be moved out of her house. He just finished with the treatment as is on his way out after a quick chat with the woman's daughter. A few minutes earlier and he would have missed the group gathering outside. Another block down and he'd still miss the gathering. Perhaps luckily for everyone, the house just happens to be two down from the one that Hige intercepted Kyu at. It only takes a few seconds for Kenta to spy the commotion. He also starts running. "Oh, no! What happened?!" Kenta exclaims.

Kyu looks at the distant Hige, barely catching what he said. He also catching Kenta having an almost identical reaction and he thinks for a moment before shaking his head. "Before you see the burn marks, it wasn't me. She was sparring someone… Kenji, I think. I wasn't there to see it. From what I was told Kenji used a genjutsu on her, she fell to the ground and went fetal position, and he tried to help her, but her pup was being hostile towards him. I was only coming to get some training but instead ended up carrying her here. Kame was gesturing for me to so… I did. She had very mild burns on her, I made sure to fix those up as I made my way here."

Kame yips a few times to also explain, perhaps in a bit better detail. Who cares that the others can't understand, at least /someone/ could. ~Kenji asked for a spar, and I thought it was okay, so me and Shinobu faced against him. But then he had this Genjutsu… I dunno what it did, exactly, but whatever he showed her, it was something /really/ bad…~ The pup whines softly. ~And he didn't even stop when Shinobu ended up on the ground…~ The pup shuffles over to Kyu, rearing up on her hind legs to peek at her partner.

Hige is frowning deeply as he stops in front of Kyu and looks down at Shinobu. "Kenji? Is he a new shinobi?" Hige asks no one in particular as he reaches a hand down to Shinobu's forehead before talking softly. "Shinobu can you hear me? It's Hige." He doesn't even look up as Kenta nears, his focus on Shinobu alone for now as she rests in Kyu's arms. Konsho sits nearby looking worried and then stands to go next to Kame. Support and all that.

Kenta's frown only grows when he hears what happened. The young man doesn't even stop to pet Kame and Konsho like he normally does. Instead, he starts checking Shinobu for signs of coherency right there on the street. The medic-nin takes note of the girl's pulse, the way that she reacts to movements, the sound of her breathing and anything else that would indicate how much awareness she has of her surroundings. "Physical injuries, I can deal with. But Genjutsu is so tricky. She might still be caught in whatever Genjutsu this Kenji used on her. Kyu, you're a Genjutsu user. Did you try to release anything that might be on her still?"

Kyu shakes his head and blinks a bit "I didn't think of that but I she doesn't seem to be, though could put her under one of my own and that should cancel out any she's under. As you both know, my genjutsu is significantly less.. Traumatic. It'll just make her sleepy. But if you don't want me to, I won't." Kyu looks at the others for approval or denial. He was fairly certain this wasn't the effects of a genjutsu, but of her own mind breaking down in response to one. He can't do much for that.

Shinobu is rather unresponsive, even to Hige. Not much is really reaching her. Her pulse is normal, and the only thing physically wrong with her was the small burns that were already healing thanks to Kyuketsuki. Kame chimes in with a few barks. ~I don't think she's under any genjutsu right now… But…~ But she was just gone after the genjutsu. It was surprising that she didn't end up with worser injuries.

Kenta purses his lips for a second. "Ummm… we might try that as a last resort, Kyu. Let's put her down somewhere in the shade. I'll try to see whether I can reach her or at least find out what's wrong." The young man looks around the area. "Shinobu's house would be the best. Familiar environments is helpful to those that are in shock. Ummm… Hige and Konsho, would you mind accompanying us? If she's actually in shock, it could be helpful to have safe and familiar faces around."

Hige is still frowning as he looks over Shinobu. When she doesn't respond he just shakes his head, taking mental notes to speak to this Kenji. Forcefully. "Yeah…" He says in response to Kenta, then motions to Konsho. "C'mon Konsho, let's go let Mana know and make sure things are ready at the house." He turns to jog towards the house mentioned, letting Mana know what's going on when he gets there so they can get things ready.

Kyu listen's to Kenta's plan and nods, "Hai." is what he says. He then follows Hige, at a slower pace though so he doesn't disturb Shinobu any. He calmly walks and unintentionally gives the others plenty of time to get everything set up as he makes his way over. When he finally gets there he would calmly enter the house and briefly glance around before speaking "So where should I set her down at exactly?"

Kame yips a few times, saying, ~I'll go with Hige!~ and she darts off with the boy to go and get the older woman. The two would find Mana in the house preparing some food, and she blinks when she scents both and not Shinobu. The woman would make her way over to the two, and Hige and Kame both end up explaining before she can even ask. A hard look crosses her eyes when she hears the situation, and she immediately hustles into action, directing Hige to go and get Shinobu's bed ready (he would find it down the hall) while she prepared some soup.

"Mana-san," Kenta greets as he enters the house along with everyone else. The young man has removed a vial of oil from a belt pouch on the first opportunity and is waving the opened end under Shinobu's nose now. The oils is pleasant mix of chamomile along with other soothing herbs that would hopefully help the girl a little. "Ummm… It's definitely best if she's lying down on her bed, since this might take a while. I'm going to try to open a telepathic link to Shinobu-chan and get a better idea of what's plaguing her. She might not be hearing what we're saying now, but she might take notice if I 'speak' inside her head."

Hige's face is surprising neutral in a way he normally only gets during a battle. He's hiding his emotions from General view. Needless to say he's pretty well toured off however. Shouldn't be too hard to figure that out. He follows Mana's directions and goes to Shinobu's room, turning down her blankets before waiting for the others. Konsho waits at the door to guide the others into the room while Hige just stands back and watches, arms crossed over his chest.

Kyu nods to Kenta and heads towards her bed, when he gets there he would gently lay her down and step away, letting Kenta and anyone else work with her as he cannot think of a way to be really helpful in this situation. He doesn't want to leave yet, unless he was told to. He just casually stood by for any orders someone might give him, seeing as there are two Chuunin in the room.

Mana bows her head lightly to Kenta, watching curiously as the medic does some work. She also brings over some soup. "Hige-kun, Kyu-kun, is there any way you two could assist me? Perhaps tell me everything you know while cooking dinner with me?" she asks, wanting to give them a bit of purpose for being here while also giving Kenta space. "Konsho-kun, Kame-chan… Stay with Shinobu-chan."
Shinobu's sensitive nose reacts to the nice scent, and she ends up stirring just a bit, but other than that, there's not too much reaction. The good news, she's there. The bad news, she doesn't seem to be free of the waking nightmare that's plaguing her mind.

Kenta sits down on the edge of the mattress, where he can easily place his hand on Shinobu's forehead. "Don't worry," he tells the human members of the group. "I'm going to do everything that I can for Shinobu-chan. I'll let you know if anything happens and I need your help." With that, Kenta closes his eyes and steadies his breath. He reaches for that still center where the most delicate of his Yamanaka techniques must work. Carefully, Kenta reaches out with his mind to establish a mental link with Shinobu, Kame and Konsho. The invisible threads of chakra look like a network of blue lines to his eyes. If it works, all four of them should be able to hear each other's thoughts and perhaps see Shinobu's surface thoughts.

Hige stands there for a time until Mana speaks. He doesn't move at first but finally follows after the woman. He says nothing and his emotions remain hidden, his face completely neutral. He doesn't speak either, letting Kyu fill in more details since it would be a first hand account then. Konsho for his part moves next to Kame and licks the other pup once in support. Once he's tapped into his worry is there as well as his confidence in Kenta's ability.

Kyu watches Kenta for a moment, listening to him and giving a nod before turning to Mana and nodding to her as well, following her to the kitchen and allowing Kenta all the space he'll need. "Hai. I'll tell you absolutely everything I know. I came across Shinobu while on my way to train at the genin training grounds. I ended up spotting my cousin, Uchiha Kenji, and Shinobu. She was in fetal position laying away from Kenji as he appeared to be explaining to a Jounin what happened. I approached Shinobu to see if she'd respond and… She didn't. Kenji briefly explained that he used some genjutsu on her that caused her to simply collapse and curl up, he then left the area, leaving her to me since Kame was being protective of her and not letting him near her. I immediately picked her up and used a diagnostic jutsu on her. I didn't need to do that to know she was burned, but I did in order to know that the burns were very mild. I healed her burns with a medical ninjutsu and carried her here because her pup was trying to lead me here. Plus I had no clue how to calm her. She was totally unresponsive." Kyu sighs after his long-winded explaination of everything he is aware of. "I'm sorry for going on for so long on that. I was just trying to make sure I got everything."

Shinobu's mind resists just a bit, mostly because it's complete chaos. The girl's thoughts are swirling, a jumble of screaming, yelling, and pain. Eventually it would settle into an actual memory; the one that Shinobu is currently living through.
~ The area itself is enclosed, surrounded by tall concrete walls. Even back then, Shinobu only had a single eye available to her, though her right eye wasn't covered by anything, leaving the scarred eye visible to anyone and everyone who would care to look. Voices of those who controlled the compound echoed around. "Everyone get in your lines! If you're not punching that bag in ten seconds, you'll be punished!" shouts a rough voice. Apparently Shinobu wasn't acting quickly enough, as those experiencing the memory would hear the crack of a whip and the slice of pain that tended to come with it. The stinging would die into a sort of throbbing, eventually fading, and it was all Shinobu - then, Ayano - needed to be spurred into action ~
Mana would frown at the explanation, shaking her head. "No, no… That was very good, Kyu-kun. Thank you for the details." She glances between Kyu and Hige, assigning them to chopping vegetables. "Hmmm… Hige-kun, Shinobu-chan likes to look for you in the training grounds, so that's probably why she was there. Could you perhaps give us a schedule of where you might be and when? That may help… And Kyu-kun, would you mind accompanying Shinobu-chan when she goes out and I cannot? She trusts you more than you think, you know."

Kenta hisses softly at the thoughts from Shinobu that opens up to him when he brushes against her consciousness. He senses the two ninken with him and silently 'beckons' them to hold fast with him. Then, the young man tries to ease himself a little deeper into the comatose girl's mind. He still won't be able to delve deeper into her memories and thoughts, but it'll be easier to transmit messages when he's rooted more firmly.

Hige helps with whatever Mana needs. As he listens to the explanation nothing seems to change. His emotions are hidden behind the mask of neutrality and even the scents are vague. He's getting better at controlling them. Or just hiding them? "Yeah, I'll start letting you guys know when I'm going out there and where I'll be." He says, his voice rather neutral as well. "I'll be speaking with this Kenji as well." Just speaking? Konsho stays in the link up and sends his support along with Kenta's words, letting Shinobu know that Hige is nearby as well to protect her.

Kyu goes to chopping the vegetables and wastes no time with the chopping. When he hears Mana mention that she trusts him more than he thinks he looks up at her, "Really? I've been working really hard to try and gain her trust and protect her whenever neccessary. I would gladly accompany her anytime I'm needed to." Kyu turns his attention back to the vegetables as he thinks for a moment. "I… wanted to ask. And I know this is a strange time to bring it up, and I know I shouldn't ask her immediately after all this is settled, but would Shinobu ever consider becoming a Shinobi? Me and Kenta were planning on making a team. But right now it's only me and him and we both agreed that having Shinobu on the team would be great, but I just… Don't know if she'd be up for going through the process to become a genin. I know you probably disapprove of this or something but, she definitely does have the skills." Kyu does noticably not seem to care about Hige's promise to do some 'talking' with his cousin.

The memories are untouched by the presence of another, but the sound of a familiar voice and the feel of another presence draw Shinobu out of the body of Ayano. The tortures she had felt what not too long ago, she didn't need to worry about as much… She was free from that place. Kame also sends her support to her partner, the worry the ninken was feeling transmitting as well.
Still, the memory played. ~ Ayano started to strike the dummy, pain surging through her hands with every hit to the bag. Her knuckles were raw from the constant training, and her legs were covered in bruises in some areas. It was not a wonder that her skills in taijutsu were so good, though, as it seems the instructors had, despite their harshness, actually taught their 'students' to be skilled in a fight. They needed an army, afterall, and one that couldn't stand up to Shinobi was a poor army indeed. ~
Mana blinks a bit when she hears Kyu's proposition. "Hmm? Well…" the woman takes a seat, making herself comfortable as she mulls over the idea. "I'm not against it. Shinobu-chan has the makings of a shinobi, of course. But she needs to get past what she's going through now, and that takes time. You're welcome to invite her to train with you two, though. And perhaps you can all go on D rank missions that don't leave the village. But until she says she wants to be a shinobi and the hitai-ate is in her hands, I don't want her going on missions outside of Konoha." Hige is given a small nod in acknowledgement before the woman's attention is back on the trio in her ward's bedroom.

Hige just remains silent then as he's not really addressed any further. He helps as necessary or requested but he doesn't speak again, staying in his own unknown thoughts. Konsho however is much more open as he tries to speak through the bond Kenta created. <"You never have to go back. We took care of them. Don't fear it. Come back to us now. Hige is worried.">

Kyu nods to Mana understandingly. "Noted. I'll tell Kenta about this and we won't rush her. I want her mental state to improve, it worries me as it is now." Kyu continues doing whatever it is that's required of him and awaiting something to happen. He won't say much at this point, just silently cutting the vegetables unless someone adresses him or something happened.

~ Ayano pauses when she hears Kenta. Or rather, Shinobu pauses. The two are starting to separate with the coaxing of the medic nin, and Shinobu finds herself watching the memory instead of reliving it. It wasn't that removed, but it was enough to see herself as she was in the memory: dirty, covered in scars and bruises that she had only felt. The missing eye was closed, but she knew that if the lid wasn't covering it, underneath would be the burnt remains of an eye. ~

Kenta attempts to stay connected to Shinobu for a few minutes longer, but the link to her fades away as she finally enters true unconsciousness. He sucks in a small breath and lets it out again slowly. Then, the medic-nin opens his eyes to smile tiredly down at the two ninken. "I think that she'll be alright for now. But I need the two of you to stay here with her while I go tell the others the news." Kenta gives Shinobu's hand a small squeeze before he gets to his feet. He quickly trots towards the doorway and to the kitchen to give the news.

Hige looks to Kenta when he comes out of Shinobu's room and just nods before leaving Konsho there while he goes off to do whatever he's going to do. He simply moves out the door and disappears.

Kyuketsuki nods to Kenta when he's given the news. He finishes up anything else Mana wants him to do and bows to her, "apologies for this happening. If you'd like I will do my best to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. Please. Have a wonderful rest of your day, and if you need me feel free to call for me at any time. Unless I'm called away on an urgent mission, I'll be sure to rush over as quickly as possible. Sayonara Mana-sama." And with that, he will turn and take his leave.